1. Field of the Invention
The subject disclosure relates to switches, and more particularly to circuit breaker type switches with safety features preventing inadvertent operation of the switch.
2. Background of the Related Art
Circuit breakers are well-known devices that automatically trip to interrupt an electrical path in a monitored circuit for safety when circuit fault conditions occur. For example, a fault condition may be an over voltage condition, an arcing fault, current overload or a ground faults. In a typical circuit breaker, a latching mechanism maintains engagement of the circuit breaker contacts. However, the latching mechanism is also sensitive enough to trip quickly and reliably under fault conditions. The circuit interruption is usually achieved by having a movable contact separate from a stationary contact. Many variations of latching mechanism are possible such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,246,298 issued Jun. 17, 1941 to Dyer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,439,511 issued Apr. 13, 1948 to Green, U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,906 issued Aug. 3, 1965 to Frink et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,894 issued Aug. 16, 1977 to Coleman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,848 issued Dec. 6, 1988 to Castonguay et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,962 issued May 29, 2001 to Seymour et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,654 issued Sep. 11, 2007 to Dorn et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,863,534 issued Jan. 4, 2011 to Narayanasamy.
Circuit breakers with toggle switches are well-known for providing manual activation of the circuit breaker between “on” and “off” positions. However, toggle switches are prone to accidental actuation from both positions. The cost of such accidental actuation can be significant. As a result, various stops have been invented to prevent such accidental operation. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,227 issued Dec. 12, 2000 to Singer. Other devices like rocker switches have also been developed to prevent accidental actuation. Rocker switches require handle linkages among other features that undesirably create larger devices.